Mail-bag deliverer.



OSCAR G. BRETT, OF HUMBOLDT, KANSAS.

MAIL-BAG DELIVERER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 26, 1908.

Application filed April 7, 1908. Serial No. 425,753.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR C. BRETT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Humboldt, in the county of Allen and State of Kansas, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Mail-Bag Deliverers, of which the following is a specification.

In my Patent No. 881,175, of March 10, 1908, I have shown improved devices for delivering mail-bags from a moving train and improved means for receiving them.

The object of my present invention is to improve the devices for delivering the bags.

My present invention does not involve any changes in the receiving means.

In my atent above mentioned, I have shown an described a mail-bag holder comprising parallel bars connected at their outer ends to a ring from which is suspended a wind shield. The ring is equipped with a catchbar having an operating arm adapted to engage an arm projecting from a tripping-post. A bag is suspended within the shield by a hanger which engages the catch-bar in such manner that when the arm encounters tripping devices the catch-bar will be disengaged gIOH]. the hanger, allowing the mail-bag to rop.

According to my present invention, I rovide means for holding the catch-bar in p ace while theholder isbeing moved out of the car and into tripping position, and I also have added means for supporting the holder while inside the car.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view' showing my im roved mail-bag holder attached to a car an showing also one of the tri ping-posts which cooperates with the ho der. Fig. 2 is a sec tional view showing the mail-bag holder in holding position and also by dotted lines, the

osition that the holder assumes when drawn ack inside the car.

In Fig. 1, A indicates a railway track and B a railway car. The holder comprises two parallel bars 0, connected at their outer ends to a ring a, and provided intermediate their ends with a U-shaped vertically arranged handle 0 which projects upwardly from the bars 0 in the manner clearly shown. The inner ends of the bars 0 are bent, as indicated at 0 adapting them to engage slots in metallic plates 0 secured to the floor of the mail car a short distance from the door. By these devices the holder may be held firmly in position or readily removed from delivering position and stored within the car if glesired and the arrangement is such also that the holder may be swung back into the car, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and supported in an inclined position by the handle 0 which may also be called a support. From the ring 0 is suspended a wind-shield H, consisting of a sheet metal cylinder of suflicient size to accommodate any mail-bag, or of sufficient diameter to prevent the mailbag from swaying much, and long enough to protect it from the wind or pressure of air caused by the rapid movement of the train. A catch-bar I is pivoted to the ring 0 at 'L, and extends diametrically across the ring and from its pivotal portion projects an operating arm i, adapted to engage the arm or bracket (1 on the trippingost D.

The bag X is suspende within the shield by means of a hanger J, which may be attached to the bag in any suitable way and which has a slotted head 3', which engages the catch-bar in the manner indicated. The arrangement is such that when the arm i encounters an arm (1 of the tripping-post, the catch-bar will be turned on its pivot and disengage itself from the hanger and allow the mail-bag to drop.

The devices ust described are the same as those shown in my patent above mentioned but in order to prevent any liability of the hanger being prematurely disengaged from the catch-bar, I have provided the novel devices illustrated.

K indicates a sliding-bar guided by straps k on cross-pieces L, L, which is provided at its rear end with an upwardly projecting flange or handle M and at its front end with a recessed or hooded portion N, which is adapted to embrace the slotted heady' on the hanger in the manner indicated in Fig. 2. A spring, 0, attached to the rear strap 7? and bearing on the top of the bar K, prevents the bar from moving endwise' unless positively moved by the attendant. In Fig. 1 the bar K is drawn back out of engagement with the slotted head of the hanger and therefore when the catch-bar I strikes an arm (1, the hanger will be released and the mail-bag will fall.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the locking-bar K in engagement with the head of the hanger. It is forced into this position when the mailbag is first attached and is held in this posi tion until the holder is placed outside the car in position to be engaged by the tripping devices, but as soon as the holder reaches this position the locking-bar should be withdrawn. As shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the holder may be withdrawn entirely within the car and supported on the handle 0 The mail-bag can be placed in the shield and engaged with the hanger While in this position, then the lockingbar may be made to engage the head of the hanger and after this the holder may be swung out through the door to the work ing position shown, then the locking-bar may be drawn back in the manner before specified. I have also added braces P to the side-bars of the holder which are arranged to bear against the sill of the car in order to more firmly supportthe holder in a horizontal position.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a holder for suspending a mail-bag from a railway car of a wind-shield carried thereby, a catch for suspending the bag from the holder within the shield, an arm projecting from the catchbar for operating it to drop the bag, and locking devices for preventing the disengagement of the bag from the holder while the latter is being moved into and out of the car.

2. The combination with a holder for suspending a mail-bag from a car of a windshield carried by the holder, a catch for suspending the bag within the shield, and locking devices for holding the catch while the holder is being moved into and out of it working position.

3. The combination with a holder for suspending a mail-bag from a car of a windshield carried by the holder within which the bagis suspended, a catch-bar pivoted to the upper end of the holder, a hanger con-' nected with the bag and detachably connected with the catch-bar, and a lockingbar engaging the hanger to prevent it from being detached from the catch-bar when the holder is being moved into and out of the car.

4. The combination of a holder connected at its inner end with the floor of a car and adapted to swing on this connection, a combined handle and support carried by the holder and on which the holder rests while within the car, brackets attached to the underside of the holder which assist in supporting it when it is outside the car, means for detachably suspending a mail-bag from 

